Match Ratings v F.C. Porto

1.Manuel ALMUNIA- Made a very good save from Lisandro Lopez which kept the cores level in the first half, but blotted his copybook when he punched a very catchable corner creating nerves in an already panic stricken defence. Overall he has been very solid this season, a big performance against a United or a Chelsea will convince me. 7

3.Bacary SAGNA- More of what you come to expect. Very solid down the right hand side in an offensive and defensive manner. Though I noticed following Porto's counter attack from an Arsenal corner early in the game, that he began to drop back to the halfway line for our corners. 7

4.Francesc FABREGAS- His most effective game this season offensively, as exemplified by his part in the first goal. But defensive concerns remain when he let Rodriguez motor past him to head the ball onto the bar. Really should have been substituted to save his legs for the last half an hour, he could barely walk. 7.5

5.Kolo TOURE- Still not as authoritative defensively as I would have liked in the first half, there was a great deal of panic in the first two Porto corners for which I feel Kolo was culpable for flapping at. 6.5

8.Samir NASRI- Effortlessly classy, incfedibly comfortable with the ball and inventive going forwards. Constant movement makes him impossible to pick up. His next step is to perform in this manner in tight, tough away matches. Brings another dimension to our play. 7.5

10.William GALLAS(c) - Noticeably more concentrated, after an initial few instances of panic, Gallas visibly took control. I would chance his manager had stern words with him on Saturday evening. 7

11.Robin van PERSIE- Much, much better. More willing to join the play from midfield and, as beautifully shown with his first goal, supported Adebayor more times in the first half an hour than in the whole game against Hull. Two very well taken goals which demonstrated pure desire. He needs to continue in this vain. 8

14.Theo WALCOTT- A constant threat down the right, he visibly terrified the Porto left back and created a number of chances for his team. Also showed a few instances of upper body strength in shielding the ball away from opponents. After looking slightly off the boil on Saturday, he reassumed his good vain of form last night. That said, fortunately Porto did not really seek to expose his defensive frailties. 8

15.DENILSON Pereira de Neves- A solid if unspectacular game, kept possession ticking over nicely. However, my concerns about his abaility to protect the back four remain. Porto again found holes between our midfield and defence and managed a fair few long range shots unchallenged. 6.5

22.Gael CLICHY- Looked much more mobile than he did on Saturday, winning balls high up the pitch as we know he can with his electric energy. However, went completely missing for Porto's early counter attack down the left. 7

25.Emmanuel ADEBAYOR- Did not look nearly as isolated and appeared to have a little extra spring which suggests he may well have had a flee in the air from the manager. Brilliant composure for the van Persie assist and an excellent header for the second. Still a few more offside flags than was necessary but an impressive display nonetheless. 8

SUBSTITUTES

26.Nicklas Bendtner- Despite van Persie and Adebayor's impressive performances, Bendtner let both know that he is still in the frame. Perhaps easy to come into a side walking it 3-0, but took up van Persie's mantle by dropping deep to pick up possession and take the game to Porto's fragile defence. 8

27.Emmnauel Eboue- Threw four stepovers and fell over the ball. Best moment of the night. 10

12.Carlos Vela- Ridiculously composed in possession, dribbling skills that would put Hleb to shame. As with Nasri, his next challenge is to make those skills count in a tight encounter. 8

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Despite his Ronaldoesque footwork, Eboue is best used as a competent substitute or emergency starter (which could not be said last year), enabling him to spring surprises on the opposition, effectively Eboue-ing them into submission

Pretty much bang on Tim. Another solid performance from Almunia - as you say - a few more against big opposition will probably convince the remaining doubters of his ability. Denilson mark is about right - on several occasions I had to remind myself that he was actually playing.

Spot on , very impressed with RVP , if he showed that desire in every game , he would get so many more goals , and im growing to love BENDTNER more and more , his link up play is excellent lately , and was nice to see NASRI back.

eboue lost the ball the second time on the edge of their box,and fell over again...but credit to him he didnt stay down like he sometimes does...he got up and ran down to our edge of the box to help win the ball back

Hey, Eboue actually had a good chance on goal and marks ought to be deducted for that ! Good ratings, LD. The special mention to Bendtner was deserved, coz he looked very good when he came on. To be fair though, Porto had given up by that time so it may have been slightly flattering.

If Wallcott keeps his play at this standard he will become the first player on Capello's teamsheet. If City had a fraction of the money the Press seem to think we have I'd be for buying him. City don't have that money, of course. And you would be crazy to sell at almost any price.

i hope RVP's performance shows why he is and should be in the team. pardon the cliche but as they say form is temporary but class is permanent. certainly true with rvp, hopefully he can stay injury free and finally have a full season with us. im also equally excited about vela, how good is this guy??? we waited 3 years for him, but he is definately worth the wait. our defence is a bit dodgy for my liking, about time that AW experiments with either a gallas-djourou, or toure-djourou partnership IMO. not sure how silvestre will fit into the whole thing atm. eboue deserved his 10 and bendtner should also get a 10 for his comical effort. all in all, it was the perfect rebound game, but the so called "response" to the (hull-of-a-game) will be when we play sunderland. lets hope our defence tightens up against the likes of cisse and co.

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